When to Record Your Video Meetings

Meetings are great. They allow us to collaborate with others, divide and conquer the work, and ensure that everyone has a voice at the table. However, there are downfalls to meetings, and one of those is the fact that a great deal of important information is often shared in a short amount of time. And without someone taking diligent notes, things can get lost or forgotten very easily.

With BlueJeans, this isn’t a problem. By simply hitting the “Record Meeting” button in the application, users can record everything that occurs in the meeting—both audio and video—for playback later. We have hundreds of thousands of users who take advantage of this feature, but you may be wondering… why? Should meetings always be recorded? When is an appropriate time to record a meeting?

So we polled our users and put together a few use cases for when you should record your meetings—and when you shouldn’t.

When Someone Can’t Attend

People are very busy, and we can’t always be in two places at once. Recording a meeting is a great option for when someone is out of the office, or simply booked in another meeting at the same time. This allows that person to catch up on the discussion later so there is no need to spend valuable time filling them in at the next meeting or send multiple emails back and forth to ensure that all invitees have the information they need. The person who missed the meeting can simply view the recording when they have time, and it’s almost as good as being there themselves.

When Training Employees

Ever feel like you say the same thing over and over again, especially when training employees? When training via BlueJeans, hit the record button. This will allow you to record the training once and then play it back to anyone who needs to view the recording at a later date. This is especially useful when training new employees on how to use software, or when updating existing protocols for large groups of people. Plus, sending the recording ahead of time allows you to waste less time on repetition during the training and spend more time answering specific questions or providing support.

When You Want to Stay Engaged

Meetings often allow us to accomplish more than email or IM because they allow everyone to get in the room (or on live video) to have a natural discussion about the topic. However, for the person stuck taking notes, meetings can sometimes feel even less productive than an email conversation. Trying to stay focused on the conversation so you can write down everything that was said make it hard to actively engage and have your voice be heard while decisions are being made. With video recording, however, everyone can revisit the recording later to take notes and get important details, so there is less need to have a dedicated note-taker during the meeting itself.

When Interviewing Candidates

Interviewing multiple candidates for the same position is tough, especially when two or three are exceptionally qualified. It can be hard to remember exactly how the first interviewee answered a question, or how the fifth person handled the practice case. Even with only a few candidates, it can be hard to accurately remember every subject you discussed and how well they each answered their questions. However, this issue can quickly be solved by holding interviews over BlueJeans and recording them, allowing you to easily playback the entire interview when deciding which candidate is the best fit for the role.

When You Need a Record of the Meeting

Have you ever had a really productive meeting and walked out excited about the new challenges, only to forgot what those new challenges were a week later? Or had an argument with a coworker over what exactly was stated during a meeting? Or just wanted to have a record of what happened during your company townhalls so you could refer back to that at a later time? Video recordings solve all of those issues and more. By recording your important meetings (or any meeting!) for review at a later date, you can quickly remember what was discussed or settle disagreements with a simple playback of the recording.

But Remember…

Some people don’t want to be recorded without reason, and depending on your industry, it may be illegal to record some (or all) of your meetings. Make sure to always ask everyone participating before you hit that “Record Meeting” button, and be sure to share the recording with all the appropriate people once the meeting is over.

Recording can make your meetings faster and more productive. For detailed instructions on how to record your meetings using BlueJeans, check out our resources on BlueJeans Support.

About the Author

Jade Hill is the Content Marketing Manager at BlueJeans and runs the BlueJeans Resource Hub. She graduated from the University of Chicago and spent years working in higher education before transitioning to the world of digital marketing. When not writing blog posts or customer stories, Jade enjoys hiking with her dogs, reading, and exploring the California coast.